John sttjbbe



(No Model.)

J. STUBBE.

DEVICE FOR TWISTING AND STRETGH'ING FENCING STRIPS. No. 340,962. PatentdApnZZ 1886.

WITN ESSES: INVENTOR,

a. 73M N BY 9 M ATTORNEYS Nv PETERS PholmLilhugl-aplmr. Wruhinglon. DJ;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JonN surname, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO H. B. son'rr & oo.,' nnnrrnn, on SAME rLAon.

DEVlCE m TWISTING AND STRETCHING FENClNG-STRIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,962, dated April 27, 1886.

Application filed October 14, 1885. Serial No. 179,872. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that 1,.JHN SrUnBn, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Twisting and Stretching Fencing-Strips; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which" Figure l is a perspective view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 isa side view of a part thereof, shown partly in section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the end of a fencingstrip 1 bent into position for attachment to the machine.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each figure.

Heretofore in the manufacture of twisted 2o barbed fencing strips or ribbons or barbed wire cables it has been customary to employ a machine in which the strips or wires are first provided with their barbs, then twisted, and finally wound upon a reel, in which condition Q5 they are put upon the market and sold. In

case of the barbed wires this mode of 1113111U2 faeture proves itself to be sufficiently satisfactory; but when twisted barbed strips are thus made experience has shown that in winding 0 them upon the reels for transportation the barbs often become displaced or loosened, and the value of the article is thereby materially lessened. The reason of this is that when the strip is twisted the barbs will of course project 3 5 from its axis at many different angles, and when it is reeled the barbs, instead of lying horizontally, will often rest vertically with their points against the adjacent inner and outer coils. It is thus evident that the force necessary to properly reel the strips will be very apt to displace the barbs.

In order to obviate the difficulty above named there has been a plan devised for barbing the strips and reeling them by machinery, but without twisting them, the latter operation to be subsequently performed when or before the strip is fastened to the fence-posts; but the method of operation and the mechanism employed for this purpose have been subject to disadvantages which it is my purpose to rem= 5o edy.

In applying my invention to practice I make the strip nntwisted, as before suggested, and after it has been reeled, in attaching it to the fence, I fix the outer end of the coil to arotary 5 twisting mechanism, and after unwinding the strip from the reel attach its inner end to a post. By rotating the twister the strip is twisted in a single direction from the twister to the last post. After it has been sufiiciently twisted the strip is fastened by staples to the intermediate posts, and the operation is complete. Besides the better preservation of the barbs, the advantages of this method are that it permits the strip to be twisted for a long dis- 5 tance rapidly and at a single operation, preserves the regular and symmetrical appear ance of the machine-twisted article, and in the act of twisting draws the strip very taut, so that the usual subsequent operation of stretching is dispensable.

I will now describe the construction and mode of operation of my improvement in detail.

In the drawings, 2 indicates a rotary spin dle or shaft, which is journaled in the proj ecting head 3 of a suitable clamp, and is provided with a hand-crank, 4-, for turning it.

The end of the spindle 2 has a device for enabling the attachment of a fencing ribbon or strip, the best form of which known to me is shown in Fig. 1, and consists of a slot, 5, made diametrically across the end of the spindle and extending axially into the same. The inner part of this slot is flared or otherwise made larger than its outer portion. The end of the strip is doubled, as shown in Fig. 3, and the doubled and thicker portion is inserted edgewise into the flared part of the slot 5, the single part of the strip then projecting through the narrower outerslot. The doubled strip cannot be drawn through the latter, and the strip cannot be disjoined from the spindle by alongitudinal strain. The clamp before referred to consists, preferably,of parallel arms 6, pro- 5 vided on their inner faces with tangs or pointed studs 7, and an arm or bracket, 8, projecting at an angle therefrom and preferably polygonal in cross-section. A collar, 9, is mounted on the bracket 8, so as to be movable thereon toward and away from the arms 6, and carries an arm, 10, which projects in a direction substantially parallel with the arms 6, and has at its outer end a threaded shaft, 11, which traverses ascrew-hole in the body of the arm, and is directed toward the fangs 7. This screwshaft has a suitable handle, 12, for screwing it to and from the fixed arm of the clamp, and may have its end pointed, as shown in the drawings.

Thus constructed, the clamp is fastened to a fence-post by sliding the collar 9 along the bracket 8 until a sufficiently large intervening space is afforded to accommodate the post. The arms 6 and 10 are made to inclose it on opposite sides, and the screw-shaft 11 is turned until its end enters or engages thepost. This will cause the collar 9 to bind upon its rod 8, so as to be fixed, and by sufficiently screwing the shaft the clamp may be fastened with great security. The sliding collar 9 renders the clamp adjustable to fit posts of different sizes.

Thus constructed, the operation of the de-- vice is as follows: The twister is fastened by means of its clamp to one of the fence-posts, and the outer end of astrip on the reel is fastened in the slot at the extremity of the shaft 2. The reel is then unwound, and the inner end of the coil is attached to a post at the proper distance from the twister. The operator now turns the spindle 2 by the hand-lever 4, the effect of which is to give to the strip a uniform helical twist in asingle direction throughout its entire length, while the very act of twisting draws in the slack and stretches the strip rigidly along the fence. The strip is then stapled to the intermediate fence-posts in the usual manner. Thus in a short time and at a single operation a long distance offence-stripat least several hundred feetmay be twisted and stretched without at all impairing the security of the barbs. The spindle 2 is prevented from being drawn out of place by an annular collar, 15, affixed to it, and bearing against the rear end of the head 3.

I have illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 a device for increasing the rapidity of stretching the f nce-stri p during the twisting operation, or for additionally stretching it after it has been twisted. The rotary spindle 2 is screw-threaded, as at 14, along its length and through its bearing in the head 3. The latter head has a vertical slot extending through its surface to the bearing of the spindle, and a key, 13, is arranged to be vertically movable in this slot, so that when inserted to its full length its inner end may fit within the helical groove of the spindle. If the key be dropped into the groove,it will engage the thread,and will cause the spindle, when turned, to move or screw in its bearing longitudinally away from the fixed point of the fence -strip, and to correspondingly draw and stretch the latter.

is generally preferable to first twist the strip while the key is disengaged from the spindle 2, and to put these parts into gear only during the latter part of the twisting operation,

'in order to accelerate or increase the tension the stretching performed principally by longitudinal motion of the spindle-shaft 2; but if the fencing is of two strands the stretching may be performed by simple rotation of the spindle. This will have the effect of tight ening the twist of the strands, and if the wire be barbed the stretching and increased twisting will more securely hold the barbs in place.

Among other advantages of the rotary stretcher above described are the following: First, the labor necessary is less and the mechanism employed is simpler than'in the forms of stretchers heretofore used; second, there is no such wasting of the wire as has been necessary in obtaining a purchase for the lever stretchers heretofore in common use; third, in stretching barbed wire the wire may first be loosely stapled to the posts, and then stretched, the advantage of which is that it prevents the sagging wire from becoming entangled in grass or briers. This cannot be done where the old-style longitudinal stretchers are used, because in moving toward the stretcher the barbs would catch on the staple, and hence the wire cannot be fixed on the posts until after it has been stretched. With my machine, however, the stretching of the wire is not done simply by pulling it toward the stretcher, but by a general shrinking along its entire length, the effect 011 the barbs being to rotate them, but to move them lengthwise of the fence only very slightly.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A device for twisting and stretching fencestrips, consisting of a rotary spindle having a wire-securing catch fixed to the spindle so as to rotate therewith, a crank for rotating the spindle, a head in which the spindle is journaled,anda securing device for affixing the head to a post, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. As a device for twisting and stretching fencing-strips, a rotary spindle journaled in a head, and having a slot, 5, made in the spindle and opening laterally through the circumference th ereof,of larger width at its inner end than at its outer end, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of the rotary spindle 2, provided with means for attaching a fence strip or wire thereto, and a crank for operating the spindle, ahead in which itis j ournaled, a bracket, 8, affixed to the head, clamp-arms It 1 G, projecting therefrom, and an adjustable clamp-arm mounted on the bracket and lonthe thread on the spindle, whereby the strip IO gitudinally movable thereon, substantially as maybe twisted and drawn longitudinally, suband for the purposes described. stantially as and for the purposes described.

4. In a device for twisting and stretching In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 5 fencing-strips, the combination of a rotary my hand this 10th day of October, A. D. 1885.

spindle, screw-threaded and journaled in an JOHN STUBBE. unthreaded bore in the head, said spindle Vitnesses:

having a wire-securing catch fixed thereto, XV. B. CORWIN,

and a removable key arranged to engage with THOMAS XV. BAKEWELL. 

